Friday, December 3, 2010

Watching

Today's Bizarro is brought to you by Sudsy Feet.

After I published my previous post about the sort of TV shows I truly hate, many readers asked what shows I like. Some people are always trying to look on the bright side of things, declare the glass half full, pointing out the silver lining, filling the shoes with chocolate feet. (I made that last one up but I think it works.)

So here follows a list of shows I am addicted to, in no particular order. I watch TV every night, I fully admit. Some may say I watch TV too much, but I also read every night and exercise every day, so it all evens out. (If lifting a bottle of scotch can be considered exercise, and I am pretty certain it can. Especially when it's full.)

Comedy:
East Bound and Down (HBO) Kenny and Stevie rule!
Weeds (Showtime) Rent the first season, watch it from the beginning. So great.
Californication (Showtime) Great writing, acerbic humor.
Bored to Death (HBO) Not brilliant, but funny and anything with Zach Galifianakis is worth watching. Ted Danson is great in this, too. (Met Zach once and he was already a fan of Bizarro. I peed my pants a little.)
Community (NBC) Major network sit-com, but give it a chance from the first episode. Great comedy writing and characters. Senor Chang is classic.
Raising Hope (FOX) very strange characters, Cloris Leachman is brilliant, as is Garret Dillahunt as Burt.
Children's Hospital (Cartoon Network, Adult Swim) Rob Corddry created it and stars. So weird.
Louie (FX) Louie C.K.'s avant-garde sit-com.
Modern Family (ABC) One of the funniest sit-coms to come out of a major network in ages. Ty Burrell is brilliant.
30 Rock (NBC) Entire cast is brilliant, the writing is top notch.

Drama:
Dexter (Showtime) See the first season.
Mad Men (AMC) Watch from the beginning, truly top notch. (CHNW and I ran into John Hamm in a restaurant once, got to talking and had dinner with him. Super sweet guy. This was years before he was famous. Weird coincidence.)
Breaking Bad (AMC) Possibly the best drama on TV in ten years or more. My opinion, of course. Definitely watch it from the beginning, don't just drop in on it.
True Blood (HBO) A complete lark, a guilty pleasure. Not brilliant, but tons o' fun. Could be considered a comedy, too.
Damages (FX) First season is brilliant.
Rubicon (AMC) Fairly new show, I'm really digging it. Watch from beginning, very complex plot.
Boardwalk Empire (HBO) Terrific show with the sort of long term appeal of Sopranos.
Terriers (FX) A new show that I've really fallen in love with. Great characters and acting.
FlashForward (ABC) I was really hooked on this show but I'm told it got canceled. Damn.

I used to be hooked on Keith Oberman every night, but politics sicken me and I find that I'm much less agitated if I ignore them altogether. So many crazy, frightened people in the world. I can't look any more.

There are a few others I watch but those above make up my "must see" list. Of course, it goes without saying (then why am I saying it?) that anything with Ricky Gervais is a must see. Extras on HBO (I'm not sure if they're making that anymore), the original "The Office" from BBC or whoever (the America version is good, too, but I've never gotten hooked on it because I think it pales in comparison to the British one), any talk show, awards show, or guest appearance. No one funnier in the world. Russell Brand is always worth my time, too, as is Zach Galifianakis and a few others.

Feel free to suggest your favorites. Not that I have any room in my schedule, but you never know when something might get canceled.

This post is too long. It's verging on the stupidity of all those millions of Tweets that document utterly unimportant and self indulgent information. Ick.

Oh yeah, hope you enjoyed today's cartoons.

22 comments:

lizgwiz said...

I'm glad to know I'm not the only person watching "Raising Hope." It's so weird and funny and oddly sweet.

Neal Skorpen said...

bloody brilliant cartoons man.

You might also like The Shield.

John R. Platt said...

Alas, Rubicon has already been canceled. Bleh.

Simio said...

Strangely, I carefully avoid anything involving Ricky Gervais or Russell Brand.

Does that mean I have to stop finding your cartoons funny now? Damn.

S.Baker said...

Wow! Your list of favorites looks almost exactly like my DVR schedule. The only two important shows missing are Sons of Anarchy and Walking Dead. Even if you aren't even slightly interested in zombies or bikers (I wasn't), the writing and characters make these two very watchable.

June said...

Thanks for the list of good tv. I'm tapped out on watching re-runs and Jeopardy. I would throw out the tv if I had to watch reality shows or teenage vampires or untalented people trying to dance or sing and I can't watch another program of moronic reactionary politicians screaming at each other either.

Unknown said...

What about "Big Bang Theory"? Gotta love THAT! Sheldon's my hero!

Anonymous said...

Carnivale. It was cancelled after two seasons, but damn..

Bob said...

Rubicon was a great one, but it was cancelled.

doug said...

I heard Rubicon was also canceled. Ultimate spoiler alert.

Vegan Houston said...

check out "The Life and Times of Tim". you will love. :D

Vegan Houston said...

check out The Life and Times of Tim. it's brilliant.

Luis said...

Despite being created by the same guy who started Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory is my current favorite. Fringe is excellent, if for no other reason than to experience Walter. House is good. And while Olbermann can dredge up too much unpleasantness, The Daily Show somehow manages to make the insanity bearable by mocking it mercilessly, thus giving hope that others will also eventually recognize how stupid things are. Mythbusters is always fun, but no one beats Nova for laying it all out.

FlashForward was a very good show, but only the second half of the first (and only) season, thus dooming it. I find it inexplicable that networks cancel good shows that cannot become hits within six or eight episodes only to replace them with dreck guaranteed to get even worse ratings. They seemed to try to break that trend with Dollhouse, but even then their hearts didn't seem into it. The Event seems to be trying to emulate FlashForward which was trying to emulate Lost, but so far it is stuck in the first-season doldrums, not breaking out yet as FlashForward had by this time.

I'm finding myself watching more British TV, interestingly. While they'll never do better than Fawlty Towers, they do make some decent stuff sometimes. Torchwood is surprisingly good, and I find myself getting attached to the silly but likable Doctor Who. The reboot of Sherlock Holmes isn't too bad, and I wish I could see more of Newswipe, a brilliant show if you ever got the opportunity to see it. A show called Paradox made a compelling if brief appearance.

monsterzero said...

oh lordy… where would we be with out TV?!

Anonymous said...

i love bones. i love trying to solve the puzzle, and i also love just listening to science terms i don't understand. it also introduces weird things people don't know about, like freegans. you have to watch sherlock. it was on masterpiece mystery, an hour and a half long for each episode, but only three episodes on pbs. you can watch it online here: http://video.pbs.org/video/1619685888/
oh, and you have to watch Alfred Hitchcock presents on hulu. i love the great acting, the very scary plot, and Alfred's just general Alfred Hitchcock-ness.

Anonymous said...

The Mighty Boosh! Have you missed that? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKwQ_zeRwEs

Marcos GarcĂ­a (Rooster) said...

I was going to leave a bizarro comment gallant but a bird ate it.

Dosbears said...

You should check out Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show, on CBS after Letterman. Check out the opening from the night the current Doctor was a guest. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9P4SxtphJ4&feature=player_embedded
(I promise that's not a Rickroll ;-)

Plan 9 Studios said...

Every time I turn on the TV, I'm reminded why I never turn on the TV. While there are exceptions (Colbert, Stewart, Arrested Development) I find most programming either incredibly shallow, materialistic, amateurish, predictable or manipulative and I dream of a day that TV was when I was a kid when great shows like Hart to Hart, Charles in Charge, and The Love Boat showed us what REAL television was supposed to be like.

Dosbears said...

It was announced todya that Terriers has been canceled.

Ozjeppe said...

Absolutely awesome pair of cartoons, Mr. Piraro! That newscast one had me in stitches! Great to see you enjoy "Community" as much as myself, too.

Ray Avito said...

I had to keep saying dead out loud to examine how pronounced my southern accent is. I laughed hard at that comic.